Me and My Boys

I love my boys.

Last night Jack told me that I am "the best mom of his whole life and he just loves me." Ahhh...so that is the reward of a stay at home mom? Thanks, Jack. That was better than all the accolades I have ever received from my previous work.

The BIG reveal

Maybe you don't know this about me yet, but I am extremely decisive, sometimes to a fault...so you shouldn't be surprised to find out that I already have this new baby's name picked out, just like I have had Warren and Jack named since I was a little girl playing cabbage patch dolls.

Warren is named after my great grandfather, Warren Garrison, and Jack is named after my grandfather, Jack Garrison. I love the idea of family names, especially when it just so happens that I love the names Warren and Jack independently of the family connection.

Here are my criteria for a good name:
1. Not trendy. I do not like the trendy names that will eventually be dated and very connected to a decade or whatever.
2. No alternative spellings. I don't want my kids to have the burden of constantly having to spell their name or say "Hi, I'm Megyn with a 'y'."
3. No nicknames or shortening of their given name. If I like the shortened version of a traditional name, I would rather just name them the shortened version.
4. I like old-fashioned, solid, timeless names that while being classic are not too popular, like Warren.

So, having said all that, this baby will be called:

Nolan Lucas

~OR~

Lila Paige

These aren't directly family names except that my great grandmother was Nola, so it could be construed that Nolan is the masculine version of that, sure I'll go with that! As for Lila, it is a very old name that I just think is so pretty and simple.

I can't wait to find out what we are having. In fact, I have often said that I wish that at the moment of conception, my left pinkie finger would turn either pink or blue to let me know. I despise not knowing because for some reason it isn't until I know whether the baby is a he or she that I can truly feel connected and start the bonding process.

I don't know what it is, but I just don't like the whole "it" or "the baby" phase of the pregnancy. Hmmm, maybe it is just that as an Engineer I love data, if there is data to be had then I want it! I will go with that rather than owning up to my severe impatience ;)

Boys and their Toys

We went to one of those giant sporting goods warehouse/mecca type places where I mindlessly follow my husband around until he is contented with his exposure to camouflage and safety orange. This time I was actually following around three little men who were all equally enamored with all the toys and things with triggers.

My expression here sums up my sentiment to Jack's having been on this ATV for nearly 30 minutes pretending to drive it:




Warren found this shooting game and was so proud of himself each time he hit one of the targets and kept requesting three more minutes to play, about a hundred times.




I NEED a daughter ;)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!

Warren was such a big helper decorating the house and the tree. What a big boy he is becoming!



You know that local radio station that plays nothing but Christmas music starting in what seems like July? You know, the one that normally drives me to distraction and that I usually can't switch off fast enough? Yeah, well it is blaring on all the speakers in our house and I am loving it!

Making a Splash!

We took the boys to an awesome indoor water park and had a blast. There was a pretty good-sized water slide and surprisingly my little dare devil, Jack, was the one requesting multiple rides. He loved it despite acting totally freaked out when we got to the bottom each time.


Ah yes, and I had the distinct pleasure of getting into a bathing suit in the first trimester, when I am just bloated and puffy looking. I had to swallow my pride and buy a bigger suit in order to even go. I never went swimming during my previous pregnancies so it was a first and hopefully not a last.

Big Brother Jack

As you can see, my current baby is somewhat reluctant these days to be coddled and babied (it is iced tea I am drinking!):



That's because he would much rather be doing this:



So, unless I sprout 4 wheels I am basically not gaining any status in his book. I did, however, manage to spark his interest and the interest of Warren when I recently had the joy of revealing to them that they are going to be welcoming a new sibling next Summer.

And suddenly I am getting more kisses and snuggles than usual(even if they are aimed at my tummy region) from my little boys.

Jack will soon enough get the title of "big brother," and I am sure he will be just as great as Warren.

I have always wanted three babies and have always wanted to have them all before turning 30, so yes this is definitely our last baby regardless of the gender. Of course if I had a choice I would opt for a little girl, BUT I am truly just so excited to have another child that I will be thrilled with another boy. If that is to be I will just find the humor in my life and revel in my solitary queen status, scout's (I mean queen's) honor!!

I haven't gone to the doctor yet, probably won't until after Christmas. I feel like an old pro at this, so it is nice to be laid back this last time around. And since it is my last pregnancy I want to be sure to savor each milestone and phase rather than rush through it all. So far I have mostly felt tired and nauseous for short periods of time throughout the day, but nothing too terrible or worthy of complaining about...nope, that will come later ;)

Ready or not, here I come!

Where could he be?

Is he under this pillow? No...

Is he in the pantry? No...

There he is! That goofy laugh is coming from the exact same hiding place he used the last seven rounds of hide-and-seek, I should have known, silly mommy...

By the numbers...

The mama and the papa:


63 - the months I have been married
18 - the months I have been pregnant
60 - the number of nails I am soley responsible for keeping trimmed
3 - the number of mortgages we are responsible for paying every month
10 - the average number of kisses I get each day from the 3 most charming men I know
0 - the number of things I would change about my little life right now!

Christmas 2008 sneak peek

Here is a snippet of what our living room looked like shortly after we finished combat shopping on Black Friday:


I am so excited for this Christmas because I just know that Warren and Jack are going to be thrilled with what Santa is bringing them and I can't wait to see their reactions. It will be priceless for sure.

And here is our newly decorated house with the old fashioned large multicolored bulbs and plenty of icicle lights too:


Now I just have to impatiently wait for 25 days...

Characters of note

Warren put the light sabers down for a little while and took up a new persona for Thanksgiving dinner -- Batman! It goes without saying that Jack was Robin, whether he liked it or not :) And it also goes without saying that no one had taken the tag off of the top of his mask yet when I was taking pictures of him!

He's in the band

Hurry, hurry Reagan, you'll be later for the big game!


And don't forget your trumpet! Now go make us proud...

Happy Thanksgiving 2008

Two little turkies playing on the stairs with cars and trucks of course. They are thankful for their mommy and daddy and all their toys, very age appropriate!

Of course, as their parents we are thankful that we have been blessed with two such amazing little men to raise and for the health of everyone in our family.


My little 'Dubbs', the one that started it all by surprising us 5 years ago ;)

God Bless!

Giving credit where credit is due

A man's place is...in the kitchen? Okay, I am no feminist but I do love the fact that just about every night after dinner Bryan loads up the dishes and then in the morning (he wakes up earlier than the rest of the family) he unloads them.



So, thanks, honey. I really appreciate it! Oh! And thanks for taking back this crappy camera that I had bought since it makes blurry, overexposed pictures for some reason. I like the Kodak one MUCH better :)

Our latest conquest

For Jack it was the Carousel ride at the mom's group meetup and for me it was, well actually making it to the meetup finally after joining a month ago. Lots of nice mommies and playmates for Jack and the long nap he took when we got home didn't hurt either.

My little monkey waiting for his turn on the ride:


And finally riding the horse of his choice:


I am still figuring out my new camera but the good news is that all the pics I took did not have red eye!

Of Mice and Men

A mini-mouse:


To go with my brand new mini laptop (it is 8'' wide!), also called a netbook:



I call it cool. Bryan got it for me since I don't have a computer of my very own now that I am not working outside of the home.

From whence I blog:


AND, I got a new camera too! We have an older digital camera that is so slow and I swear has red-eye on every picture, making my angelic children look like satan's personal assistants. Okay, so I will NOT be writing the ebay ad to sell the old camera, that will be Bryan's job...ya know, since he is the bonafide salesman and all.

This is the camera I got:


Before you judge it as one of those junky toy cameras (don't judge a book by it's polka dots!!), it is 10 megapixels and I mostly got it because I wanted one that doesn't have the lense that comes out since I plan on toting it around in my purse and I am worried that those kind will get broken if the on button gets pushed inside my purse. Almost all the cameras have the lenses that come out so really this cutesy one was a strong contender right out of the gate and the fact that it has pink polka dots and matches my new laptop was only a slight motivation, honest ;)